Bigger blogger presence at DNC: CNET News Video

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CNET News Video: Bigger blogger presence at DNC

2:06 /
August 27, 2008

There are 15,000 members of the media credentialed for the Democratic National Convention and 120 of them represent blogs. That may seem like just be a drop in the bucket, but as CNET's Kara Tsuboi explores the blogger lounge known as "The Big Tent,"it's clear the nontraditional media presence is growing in force and voice.

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>> Hey there, I'm CNET reporter Kara Tsuboi in the heart of Denver's downtown and a few blocks away from the main convention center. I'm about to go in to what's being called "the big tent." It's sponsored by Google, YouTube and Digg and it's kind of like a bloggers' lounge. I think we should go check it out even though we don't have the right credentials, I think we can still probably find our way in.
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>> The big tent is to bring people together to collaborate around issues of sustainability. Sustainability is really the umbrella issue of everything, healthcare, diversity of culture.
>> What do you think of this set-up of being out here in the big tent versus being, you know closer to the convention?
>> I like it. I mean, I think it's great to have kind of parallel activity that's not going on necessarily in the convention. And I think you know, the more kind of accessible, open spaces there are for people to engage and kind of connect and network, the better.
>> What's the role of technology during this election, like why do we need a YouTube booth, why do we need a Google lounge, why is technology have such a big presence here?
>> Technology is really important because it's really bringing people together. They're starting to understand about the issues. They are able to engage with each other through online chatting. They are able to do blogging. They are able to really start creating communities that they really haven't felt were available to be created before.
>> The DNC says a record number of blogs, 120 of them have been credentialed for this year's convention. It's still a relatively small chuck out of the 15,000 total members of the media in attendance.
>> They are not anymore, just kind of these outsiders like nipping at the ankles of mainstream politics. You know, this is a really important outlet of media and this is a place where a lot people get their media coverage and this is a place that breaks lots of stories that mainstream media won't break.
>> In fact this year the bloggers are so well-integrated that every state has a live blogger on the convention floor to send out the news as it happens. I'm Kara Tsuboi, CNET.com.